Gigs On The Gold Coast

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Permalink Reply by Mayan Fox on October 11, 2009 at 7:00

Hey Luke. It can be hard initially just because there's a helluva lot of good bands on the coast trying to share a few venues. Once your foot is in the door though it gets easier. We've found most of the venues to be pretty hospitable. We've only got most of our gigs by contacting the venue directly by phone (initially) and/or contacting bands we think we could share a stage with. Some of the venues outsource the promos and some are in-house. For the Shark Bar google Cherry Red. For Hard Rock Cafe contact them over the phone and they'll pass on Jesse's contact details. For the Loft contact them directly and they'll pass on further details. Contact Rory Swane for the Basement (befriend 'the Basement' on myspace for starters.) GT Promotions does a lot of the Waxy's gigs. Anyway, a bit of digging is all that's needed. Respectful follow-up on your part is also a must. Some of the venues and promoters get swamped - the squeaky wheel gets the oil! Also, we've gotten a few gigs via GCMIA so think about joining with them. Also, if you're a band where 50% of the band is 30 or under, hurry up and send a submission in to A-Venue (it closes soon). We've had some good gigs through them. Also, keep your ear to the ground and apply for every festival that pops up, big or small.

I hope that helps a little.

Nate

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Permalink Reply by TAORN on October 11, 2009 at 9:01

Thank you for the reply….sounds like a good start. I guess the other problem we have is finding a local band that sits with our style of music. I’m sure once we have been out there for a bit it will become a lot easier. Thanks again for your help…..

Cheers,
Luke

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Permalink Reply by Liam(PIP) on October 12, 2009 at 21:22

hey dude saw your post and thought id suggest hitting up brannigans in broadbeach if u like tell me the name of your band ( a myspace account would be more preferable) and i can pass on your details to andy the bloke who runs it and see if we can get ya ball rolling

Or alternatively there is Shed 5 in burliegh they are reguarly looking to bands to book

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Permalink Reply by David Aurora on October 14, 2009 at 0:06

Yeah follow up the suggestions Mayan Fox & Liam gave you and you'll be on the right track. One thing I HIGHLY suggest is get out to some gigs. I've said it before and I'll damn sure say it again, if you aren't supporting the scene you have no business gaining from it. But this also has the obvious bonus of getting you in the face of the actual people involved, which certainly helps. Most of the venues/booking people mentioned here are usually at the gigs in person, so it never hurts to find out who it is and go have a chat with the person. They're all very approachable people.

As a sidenote, I'd say 75% of the booking people on the coast are really cool, and with the other 25% it's a total cocksuck. For example, there are certain venues who won't even give you the time of day unless you're in with their mates. Luckily, there's usually a way around it, the coast is a small place so you ring a friend, who rings a friend, who rings a friend..... and so on. Or you just chat to a band who DOES get booked there and get them to get you on the bill. People have done this for me, and I've done this for other people. Sucks that it's ever necessary, but as I said it's thankfully the minority of places and fairly easily worked around.

Another thing to keep in mind is that a lot of the people booking the shows are busting their ass to do it for not much (if anything) in return, so it's often unfair to expect them to drop everything to hook you up. There really aren't many people booking GC venues who do that for a living, for most it's just something they do to help out. So just use common sense in the approach- if you don't hear back in a reasonable amount of time, remind them, but do it politely because they aren't necessarily just trying to be jerks.

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Permalink Reply by David Aurora on October 14, 2009 at 0:14

p.s. and no, your music does NOT suck haha. very decent stuff. not sure off the top of my head who you'd be good on a lineup with. lebelle would have been good but theyve left the coast. actually maybe you and the hobos would make a decent lineup too

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